GCYC History

In August 1982,

the 1st Gold Country Regatta was organized by local sailors and held on Scotts Flat Lake. The regatta attracted 42 boats and was the inspiration for the founding of the Gold Country Sailing Club (now Gold Country Yacht Club).

From “a little dinghy” newsletter, March 1984
(the history of the club for 1983 as narrated by the Secretary)

“Many, many moons ago, there was a great one who walked upon the waters, with a little help from his Catalina 22. And this spirit has a vision, and in that vision he saw great winged spirits skating upon the shimmering light. And so he called others unto him, and they were guided by his light, not that of the beatific heavens, but a candle in a paper bag with a rock in the bottom.

“On 9 Feb, 1983 at 8:00 PM, 8 people responded to an invitation of Ray Woods, to get together at his house and talk about sailing and ways of furthering our appreciation of it in this area. We had all attended the 1st Gold Country Regatta, and that combined with an enthusiasm for sailing, we were off and floating with a skeleton crew of officers, manning the pumps. Setting sail required publicity, money, effort, ideas, slide shows, stamps, and lots of cookies. But we were lucky, we had the basics. We had a lake. And most of us even had a boat.

“Then on to the good stuff, which at that time was a sunny day, and a chance to hit the lake. Opening day had its pomp and fanfare, balloons, a race, and a lot of toasting to the new boating season. Growth and experience came with time, a change of names, faces and places. We sailed the Caribbean from a real estate office, learned who had the right of way in a race around a pool table, and crewed in Tahiti and the San Juans while in the back of a restaurant. And we raced, we ghosted, we sat, and we raced some more. We raced by canoes and ski boats, while everyone seemed to race by the boat I was on. And it was still great, just like the people and all of their effort that has gone into the founding and nurturing of our club.

People to thank for the project
(from Jan 2002 newsletter

  • Wayne Buti

  • Doug Epperson

  • Dale and Lynn Buchanan

  • Don Samuelson

  • Jeremy Gicker

  • Mike Bringolf

  • Kent Bennett

  • Don Hare

  • Jerry Lewis

  • Ron Montgomery

  • Frank Nin

  • Carsten Owens

  • Richard Pennock

  • Don Wight

  • Hugh Talman

  • Robert Walker - building design

  • Hansen Bros - donating gravel

  • Bill Litchfield - donating metal

  • Josh at J&J Motorsports - donating equipment and storage

  • Joe Day - donating equipment, time, and expertise

GCYC Clubhouse Construction

  • March 2001 - NID Building and Maintenance Committee approved plans, plans to NID General Board in for final approval. Next step: Nevada County building permit

  • May 29 2001 - 1st work party

  • June 2001 - building permit approved, building committee: Doug Epperson, Dale Buchanan, Wayne and Tish Buti, Joe Day, Hugh Talman

  • June 30 2001 - expected pour date

  • July 2001 - work parties every week in June, brushed/graded site, laid out lines, dug footings, started foundation, 2 loads of gravel, laying rebar

  • Aug 2001 - foundations poured (phase 2 complete)

    • phase 1 - money/donations, permit process

    • phase 2 - pouring foootings and foundation

    • phase 3 - metal cut, sanded, painted

    • phase 4 - getting metal to site, putting clubhouse together (should happen before winter) Hugh has made it his "mission" to get the clubhouse done.

  • Sept 15 2001 - work party to cut and weld

  • Feb 2002 - finished bolting steel and tightening everything, stairs and sidewalk formed, found scrap metal for roof, next: put on roof

  • March 2002 - roof on clubhouse, close to final inspection, 3yds concrete for steps/bbq footing, telephone poles around perimeter with rope (nautical style) fence

  • May 2002 - waiting to build bbq

  • June 2002 - first GCYC monthly meeting held in the new clubhouse

  • July 2002 - finishing bbq, repair donated tables, flowers in planters, no water yet

The Founding of GCYC from “...a little dinghy” Newsletter, February, 2010

Greetings Everyone.

I've been procrastinating for a long time about getting something into the Little Dinghy, and while going through some old file boxes, I came upon some great stuff. Most of you know by now that Ray Woods was the founder of our club. He had a Catalina 22 and really liked to race, but in 1982 there wasn't anything that remotely resembled any type of local organization that gave him that opportunity, so he went out and started one. He put a picture of a sailboat in the Union and an invitation to everyone that had something that floated with a mast and a sail stuck to it, to join him in a regatta on Scott's Flat Lake. In those days Don Samuelson and I were in the same office, and when I showed him Ray's piece and made the proposal that I had the beer and he had the boat, I never got to finish the sentence before Don was making plans to get to his Venture 22 ready for Scott's Flat and my first regatta.

That Saturday morning, Ray combed the campground with great resolve and worked those campers like a pro.

It didn't matter if you were there for two weeks or two hours, or if you could only race one day, Ray didn't care. It must have been magic, but he was able to pull together over 40 boats to participate in that regatta, with a variety of vessels that some said hadn't been seen since the evacuation of Dunkirk! Summer and fall sailed by and Ray must have gotten a little cabin fever after the lake shut down for winter; and before we knew it there was a note in the mail that all of the participants received from Ray, inviting them to his house for a meeting regarding sailing. What follows are the minutes that I took down that February 27 years ago.

Ed Guinaugh The 1st Secretary

Past Commodores

  • 2024 - Doug Coursey

  • 2023 - Doug Coursey

  • 2022 - Teresa Gaman

  • 2021 - Teresa Gaman

  • 2020 - Teresa Gaman

  • 2019 - Dennis Barry

  • 2018 - Stewart Perry

  • 2017 - Stewart Perry

  • 2016 - Howard Hendrich

  • 2015 - Howard Hendrich

  • 2014 - Don Hare

  • 2013 - Don Hare

  • 2012 - Chris Buti

  • 2011 - Chris Buti

  • 2010 - Joe Day

  • 2009 - Joe Day

  • 2008 - Pierre Chatelain

  • 2007 - Pierre Chatelain

  • 2006 - Jeffrey Lund

  • 2005 - Bruce Cutshall

  • 2004 - Tish Buti

  • 2003 - Tish Buti

  • 2002 - Hugh Talman

  • 2001 - Hugh Talman

  • 2000 - Wayne Buti

  • 1999 - Wayne Buti

  • 1998 - Don Eagle

  • 1997 - Don Eagle

  • 1996 - Jerry Lewis

  • 1995 - Jerry Lewis

  • 1994 - Dale Buchanan

  • 1993 - Dale Buchanan

  • 1992 - Greg Pfalmer

  • 1991 - Jerry Gicker

  • 1990 - Lynn Buchanan

  • 1989 - Chuck Erdrich

  • 1988 - Doug Epperson

  • 1987 - Doug Epperson

  • 1986 - Doug Epperson

  • 1985 - Gary Miller

  • 1984 - Don Samuelson

  • 1983 - Don Samuelson

GCYC Beginnings

  • 9 Feb 83 - First Meeting

  • Burma Road, Grass Valley

  • Founder: Ray Woods

  • Attendees:

    • Ray and Jackie Woods

    • Greg and Pam Pfalmer

    • Pat Riley

    • Lynda Thompson

    • Phil Brown

    • John Hensley

    • Don Samuelson

    • Ed Guinaugh